Hello, everyone, and how are you today? We are doing just fine, thank you, especially since the middle of the week is upon us. After all, we have made it this far, so we are determined to hang on for another couple of days. And why not? The alternatives — at least those we can identify — are not so appetizing. And what better way to make the time fly than to keep busy. So grab that cup of stimulation and get started. Our flavor today is strawberry creme, for those tracking our habits. Now, though, the time has come to get busy. So please grab your own cup and dig in to the items of interest assembled below. We hope you have a wonderful day, and please do keep in touch. …
Roche is considering divesting Flatiron Health, highlighting the hazards big pharma can face when buying startups, The Financial Times reports. Roche paid $1.9 billion for Flatiron in 2018, one of a series of bets the company made on early-stage health technology companies. Flatiron manages electronic patient records for a sprawling network of cancer clinics in the U.S., giving it access to one of the biggest repositories of data on the disease. Flatiron then mines the data and sells it to drug companies, which use it for their R&D efforts. Although Roche kept Flatiron as a separate legal entity, its ownership has deterred some rivals from doing business with the startup and hurt sales.
An underwhelming earnings report and ongoing questions about increasing competition in the booming obesity medicine field sent Novo Nordisk shares down early Wednesday, as the company sought to project its ability to reach more patients by increasing the supplies of its medicines, STAT explains. Novo stock was down about 5% after the company lowered its operating profit guidance to 20% to 28%, down from the 22% to 30% it forecasted in its last earnings report. Novo contended that some of the drags on its revenue and outlook were one-off obstacles. Wegovy figures were hurt because the company had to pay catch-up rebates on some 2023 sales.
